That's the result of a settlement between National Solid Wastes Management Association, which sued over the ordinance, and the city's attorneys, who filed for a new trial in November. Both sides have spent the last several months negotiating a settlement, and according to the order below, they've reached a "comprehensive and binding agreement" that keeps the October injunction in place, "waives any appeals from this action" and "resolves all matters in controversy between the parties."

According to the settlement, waste haulers are free to dump their loads wherever they want -- in or outside of the Dallas city limits.

“We are so happy we’re able to put this episode behind us,” says Tom Brown, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Progressive Waste Solutions in Fort Worth. “This settlement preserves competition for waste disposal and recycling services in Dallas. City businesses and residents will be the beneficiaries of this agreement as it assures a competitive marketplace.”

In a statement sent to The Dallas Morning News Wednesday, the NSWMA says that both sides agreed that "no flow control law would be applicable to the parties to the lawsuit until 2029."

We've left messages for city attorneys and Frank Librio, Dallas City Hall's spokesman, to see why they finally decided to settle.

“This is a business revenue issue. Who deserves that revenue? Should it be the owners of the landfills outside the city of Dallas or the taxpayers? That’s the fundamental issue. I am going to vote for the taxpayers. I believe everyone, if you live in Dallas or have a business in Dallas, deserves that money and not a private enterprise, and I hope we’re aligned on that.”

Back in October O'Connor took the city to task for presenting flow control as an environmentally friendly initiative, which is how it was initially sold to the council. It was a whole different kind of Green Dallas the city had in mind, O'Connor wrote, and flow control was "an unreasonable exercise of its police powers," he wrote last year.

So years after months' worth of protesting and politicking, flow control is dead.

“We are glad it’s over, but disappointed that Dallas taxpayers had to foot the bill for defending this terrible ordinance,” says Sharon H. Kneiss, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Industry Associations, in today's statement. “Cities, counties and states should be on notice that we will not stand idly by and let local governments establish waste disposal monopolies. It’s not just bad for our industry, it’s bad for the consumer and the taxpayer, as well. Let the market determine the most economical and environmentally sound waste management solutions. The answer is not a government monopoly.”